Expanded bus service awaits returning students

Aug. 23, 2007

KALAMAZOO--Tuesday, Sept. 4, is more than just the start of
the fall semester for Western Michigan University students. It's
also the first day all routes in an expanded bus service goes
online that gives students free transportation to both campus
and city locations.

When most students left Kalamazoo at the end of the spring
semester, the status of student access to free bus service was
still up in the air, according to Lowell P. Rinker, WMU vice
president for business and finance. But the University was able
to preserve and even expand the service over the summer, thanks
to a new public-private partnership hammered out in late May.

"We've preserved the total package. The major changes
in bus service students will see this fall will be a slightly
different look to some of the buses they ride and a third bus
added to the main campus route," says Rinker. "With
a lot of student input and terrific collaboration between Kalamazoo
Metro Transit and the WMU staff, we've managed to put together
a bus package that even enhances the service level a bit and
still stays within the fiscal constraints we outlined at the
beginning of this process."

The new arrangement will bring the private bus firm Indian
Trails into the picture to provide service around the main campus
and transportation to and from the Parkview Campus beginning
Sept. 4. What's more, the frequency on main campus routes will
increase.

WMU students can ride free on any route throughout the campus
and Metro Transit system, by showing their WMU Bronco Card to
any Metro Transit or Indian Trails driver. On Metro Transit buses,
a buscycle rack is available to transport bicycles at no extra
charge.

Kalamazoo's Metro Transit will continue service on the Solon-Kendall
and Lafayette routes as well as the Lovell and West Michigan
routes, and students will continue to have free systemwide access
on Metro Transit buses. Metro Transit will also continue service
to the College of Health and Human Services and provide shuttle
for football and basketball games. Completion of the Metro Transit
portion of the arrangement was approved by the Kalamazoo City
Commission in late July.

Rinker says the new agreement will cost $1.46 million annually--
far less than the nearly $1.8 million annual cost of the previous
contract with Metro Transit. The new three-way partnership represents
an even greater savings over the $2.1 cost of a proposed contract
renewal Metro Transit offered the campus last spring as the end
of the previous contract was looming. Rinker and his staff began
exploring alternate ways of providing transportation when the
cost of continuing the Metro Transit contract past its July 31
end date was quoted at $300,000 or 19 percent higher per year
than the previous contract. The cost increases were due to rising
fuel costs and inflationary pressures.

"We had to find a way to decrease costs for bus service,"
Rinker says. "We spent months working with the Western Student
Association and with Students for a Sustainable Earth to gauge
student needs and desires. We know how important bus transportation
is to many students, so when a simple renewal of the existing
contract became too expensive, we began looking at other options
and we put out a request for proposals from the private sector.
We received some great proposals and ultimately accepted one
from Indian Trails."

Rinker notes the deal negotiated is for a one-year period,
which will give the University and its transit partners an opportunity
to make adjustments at the end of the initial contract. The new
agreement, he says, brings some immediate changes to University
business offices, which will now be responsible for administrative
support for all on-campus bus routes.